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Imagine an entire IT infrastructure controlled not by hands and hardware, but by software. One in which workloads like big data and analytics are serviced automatically by the most appropriate resource.

A Software Defined Environment (SDE) enables your organisation to deliver IT services in the most efficient way possible. It optimises your compute, storage and networking infrastructure so it can adapt to the type of work required. Shared software management tools dynamically assign and manage workloads, transforming a static IT infrastructure into a workload-aware environment.

IBM’s storage software is built for new-era workloads, storing data on the highest performance and most cost-effective storage media over time. Soon available as a cloud service on IBM SoftLayer, it can stretch to one billion petabytes – equal to a data centre the size of one million city blocks.

Dynamic data

Software Defined Networking (SDN) offers a next-generation alternative to management at the physical device level, which can be a bottleneck in the data centre.

IBM Software Defined Network for Virtual Environments (SDN VE) creates a virtual network for virtual machines (VMs). This virtual network is de-coupled and isolated from the physical network, much like VMs are separated from the host server hardware. This approach enables virtual networks to be created without any changes to the existing network – meaning it can be wired once.

Provisioning and administration are simplified and automated, and IP and MAC addresses can be reused, permitting logical separation of networks for multi-tenancy. OpenFlow-enabled switches and a programmable network controller provide centralised control. SDN VE incorporates open source components to enable an ecosystem of network services.

US$3.7BSDN market will increase
from $360 million in 2013
to 3.7 billion in 2016Source: IDC, *SDN Shakes Up the Status Quo in
Datacentre Networking, IDC Says* 19 December 2012

Software Defined Compute provides workload-aware infrastructure management and optimisation. It opens up a choice of platforms for virtualisation across leading hypervisors. That means IBM PowerVM, PowerVC, z/VM, and KVM, as well as VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V, are all enabled on IBM systems to deliver enterprise-class performance and management support in a virtualised environment. KVM (kernel-based virtual machine) KVM (kernel-based virtual machine), for example, is tuned for Windows and Linux workloads on POWER, System z and PureFlex platforms.

More responsive with
intelligent resourceschedulingSource: IBM retail client, September 2013

Monitoring and managing applications and data within your four walls can be difficult enough. Move to a cloud and your IT organisation faces challenges amplified by the Software Defined Environment. Addressing issues of security and compliance, performance monitoring, workload balancing, and application and data integration quickly and cost-effectively can help you realise the potential of a hybrid cloud.

IBM offers hybrid cloud solutions to help you orchestrate the information flow to and from the cloud. You can also extend IBM Tivoli monitoring tools to manage internal services to cloud service management. And the next-generation automation solution, IBM SmartCloud Orchestrator built on OpenStack technology, also uses prepackaged extensions to take your cloud services to the next level.

Up to 3x productivity
improvement based on
integrated managementSource: IBM retail client, September 2013

Watch. Read. Learn more about Software Defined Environment (SDE)

Demystifying Software Defined Environments

An essential introduction to Software Defined Environments: what, how and why an SDE can help your infrastructure be simplified, adaptive and responsive.